Doug Bennett holding slim lead in GOP primary for 10th Congressional seat

Deerfield computer consultant Doug Bennett held a slim lead early Wednesday in the Republican primary for Illinois' 10th Congressional District seat.

With all 411 precincts reporting, unofficial results show Bennett ahead of GOP rivals Dr. Sapan Shah of Libertyville and Jeremy Wynes of Highland Park.

Bennett had 8,484 votes, Wynes had 8,225 votes and Shah had 7,093 votes. Those totals don't include all early votes.

"It's obviously brutally close," Bennett said late Tuesday while waiting for the final votes to be counted.

Wynes wasn't ready to surrender. Thousands of early votes in the Lake County part of the 10th District remained uncounted early Wednesday. Wynes said he felt "really good about the early vote breaking our way."

The winner will face Democratic U.S. Rep. Brad Schneider in November.

Bennett is the most conservative of the three GOP candidates. He opposes same-sex marriage and abortion rights, and he's the only one who admitted voting for President Donald Trump in 2016.

On the other hand, Shah and Wynes portrayed themselves as fiscal conservatives but social moderates. Bennett believes his consistently conservative platform resonated with GOP voters.

"We stayed on message," Bennett said.

Schneider, of Deerfield, ran unopposed in the Democratic primary.